Finding Atlantis: Underwater Anomalies

For more information on Atlantis read The Myth Of Man by J.P. Robinson.

Many cities have succumbed to the ravages of nature and found themselves in a watery grave, just like the village of Port Royal in Jamaica (image above) which was founded in 1518 by the Spanish, and was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami on June 7, 1692.

The fabled Atlantis cited in Plato's Critias and Timeaus dialogues continues to hold its mythological status, the reason for this is a distinct lack of physical evidence to reinforce any notions of its historical reality.

There are many location hypotheses still being bandied around today, but taking Plato’s account literally, a mid-Atlantic location beyond the Straits of Gibraltar would seem the most logical choice. The remnants of the mythical isle may possibly be revealed by the presence of the Azores and maybe the Canaries nearer mainland Spain, stretching across the sea to the Bahamas and even potentially Cuba. The hot springs mentioned by Plato could well prove to be those seen in the Vale da Furnas near São Miguel in the Azores.

According to author Charles Berlitz, it is still the current belief among the Portuguese that Atlantis (Atlantida) once existed near Portugal, and remnants of the fabled continent can be seen in the Azores Islands, whose presence is visible as only the peaks of the former land. This idea of the Azores being the remains of at least part of the Atlantic empire is not an isolated one:

‘Deep under the ocean’s waters Atlantis is now reposing and only its highest summits are still visible in the shape of the Azores. . . The great island rose in steep cliffs from the sea. . . Its cold and hot springs described by the ancient authors are still there as they flowed many millenniums ago. The mountain-lakes of Atlantis have been transformed now into submerged ones. . . If we follow exactly Plato’s indications and seek the site of Poseidonis among the half submerged summits of the Azores, we will find it to the south of the Dollabarata. There, upon an eminence, in the middle of a large and comparatively straight valley, well protected from the winds, stood its splendid capital, the ‘city of the golden gates.’ . . . It is strange that the scientists have sought Atlantis everywhere, but have given the least attention to this spot, which after all was clearly indicated by Plato.’[i]

In March 1974, the Russian vessel Academician Petrovsky underwent an expedition to examine the Ampere and Josephine Seamounts southwest of the Azores. These seamounts or underwater mountains rise from a depth of 10,000 feet or more to a summit which reaches several hundred feet below the surface. Underwater photographs taken during the expedition revealed a stone wall which included cut stone blocks scattered on both sides, which may represent evidence of buildings on the ocean floor in the precise area indicated by Plato as the location of Atlantis.

What appear to be artificial steps partially covered with lava were photographed on the flat summit of the Ampere Seamount, which led Soviet scientist Professor Aksyonov to proclaim, ‘In my opinion these structures once stood on the surface.’

Frank Joseph believes that this underwater region seems to fit Plato’s description very well; ‘Unlike any other site on Earth, the Horseshoe Seamounts fit the basic criteria for Atlantis set out in Plato’s two dialogues: they compromise a ring of high mountains lying outside the Straits of Gibraltar; their foremost peak, Mount Ampere, stands to the south – the same position assumed by Mount Atlas. Mount Ampere stood above sea level as an island until it collapsed beneath the surface within the past 10,000 years. . . The bones of numerous elephants have been dredged up from the area, corroborating Plato’s observation that these creatures inhabited the island of Atlantis.’[ii]

Remarkably, a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) underwater image (above) has revealed the presence of what has been described as a canal system, measuring approximately 165 km east to west and 120 km north to south. This anomalous discovery is located to the east of the Madeira Abyssal Plain, 1,750 km west-southwest of the Strait of Gibraltar near the Canary Islands, 750 km south of the Azores, and 650 km nearly due west of Madeira.

This extraordinary find closely correlates with Plato’s account of the Atlantis canal system in Critias;

‘It was rectangular, and for the most part straight and oblong. . . It was excavated to the depth of a hundred feet, and its breadth was a stadium [equivalent to 185 metres] everywhere; it was carried around the whole of the plain, and was ten thousand stadia in length. . . The depth and width and length of this ditch were incredible and gave the impression that such a work, in addition to so many other works, could hardly have been wrought by the hand of man. It received streams which came down from the mountains, and winding round the plain, and touching the city at various points, was there left off into the sea. . . From above, likewise, straight canals of a hundred feet in width were cut into the plain, and again let off into the ditch toward the sea; these canals were at intervals of a hundred stadia, . . .cutting transverse passages from one canal into another, and to the city.’

The distance between the submerged canals seen in the image varies, but measurements taken of the span between two major east-west canals measures 15 km which equates to roughly 85 stadia (5.666 stadia equals 1 km). Thus, Plato’s description of 100 stadia between the canals is very similar to what is lying on the sea floor in the Atlantic. And the overall length of the canal system, if laid end to end, is calculated to be 1,775 km, which translates to nearly 9,600 stadia – within 4% of Plato’s description. It is highly likely that the highland region in the west, which is the eastern extent of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, was the source of the canals’ water.

A faint outline of this anomalous rectangular shape can be seen by following the coordinates on Google Earth (24.4°W, 31.3°N), and to the right of this bizarre formation lies a straight line on the ocean floor which extends for thousands of miles before changing course and continuing for thousands more (image above). What caused these immense marks remains inconclusive, but its close proximity to what could well prove to be the Atlantis canal system certainly suggests some kind of connection between the two. This unexplained rectangular shape beneath the sea may be the kind of evidence we have been searching for all these years, the smoking gun of Atlantology perhaps? The location fits neatly with the Greek descriptions written over two millennia ago, and considering that whatever of wherever Atlantis once was; it should be deep below the sea today if we are to take Plato’s tale into account.

Interestingly, Google Earth also reveals another similar underwater formation off the west coast of Ireland in a location often touted as the area where the mythical island of Hy-Brasil once stood (image above). Could these strangely symmetrical shapes beneath the ocean be more evidence of ancient civilizations devastated by a worldwide flood? Only a fully financed expedition to these anomalous sites can offer us the clarity we seek, and such a proposition is surely a long way from being realised.

Until then, the mystery continues...

This article was taken from an excerpt of The Myth Of Man by J.P. Robinson.

[i] Article by Major Kurt Bilau, 1923, cited in Atlantis by Charles Berlitz, p.73.

[ii] Joseph, Frank – Atlantis: And Other Worlds, 1994.

Michael Jaye - The Worldwide Flood